The Asociación Humanitaria “San Francisco de Asis” is working to improve animal and community welfare in the rural villages of northern Peru.
Due to the high level of poverty and lack of education by animal owners, there is a high degree of neglect (both intentional and unintentional) being imposed on domestic animals. Companion animals, many of which run free in the towns and villages, are usually not neutered due to the high cost of veterinary care and the logistics of transportation to facilities, as well as lack of awareness on the part of the owners.
The Asociación attempts to address these issues through many community initiatives including:
- Education programmes in various rural communities and towns throughout northern Peru directed at teachers and children;
- Providing Mobile Veterinarian Clinics to small rural town and villages;
- Running an Animal Rehabilitation Centre for homeless/abandoned animals.
Mayhew International first met the President of the Asociación, Ms Rosemary Gordon, in 2005 at the Humane Society Expo. In 2006 Ms Gordon recommended one of her volunteer vets, Dr Victor Diaz, for The Mayhew International Veterinary Training Programme.
To read about Dr Diaz’s training at The Mayhew in June 2006, please click here.
As a young graduate with limited surgical experience, Dr Diaz acquired a solid foundation of general veterinary skills, and sterilisation techniques in particular, during his time at The Mayhew. After returning to Peru, he further honed his skills working with a visiting vet from Australia who volunteers at the Asociación Humanitaria one month every year.
In support of the Asociación Humanitaria “San Francisco de Asis”, Mayhew International will provide training for another vet, Dr Jierson Mendoza. Dr Mendoza is a full-time professor on the Veterinary Science Faculty of the National University of Piura; in his spare time he also volunteers at the Asociación Humanitaria. This is an exciting opportunity for Mayhew International as Dr Mendoza specialises in small animal surgery and his experience at The Mayhew will have the potential to influence both the veterinary skills and the concept of animal welfare in the next generation of vets in Peru. Dr Mendoza is currently confirmed a placement under The Mayhew International Veterinary Training Programme in June 2008.
A Voyage to Peru
In June this year, while most people were jetting off on their summer holidays, Mayhew Animal Care Manager, Gillian Scott, went on a two week visit to Peru to assist on a neutering programme. For this newsletter Gillian has produced an account of her amazing trip.
On June 28th 2008 I set off from London journey to Peru and what a fantastic 2 weeks I had. Asociacion Humanitaria San Francisco de Asis (AHSFA) is based in Colan, Northern Peru. The charity was established by the wonderful Rosemary Gordon, who works tirelessly for the animals and the people of the local area. The Mayhew first made contact with Rosemary 4 years ago and little by little we have been able to support her with worm and flea treatments, some basic equipment and of course advice and encouragement. And via Rosemary we have welcomed 2 vets from Peru on our International Vet Training Programme, so visiting on behalf of Mayhew International was an amazing experience. It was a world apart to see how basic the facilities were where we would be working. However, the charity has an excellent set up, there may have been no running water in the clinic but a huge barrel and a jug proved to be more than adequate. It is easy to take a lot of things for granted when travelling from the UK, but in a developing country it is important to improvise and use what you can and I was impressed with just how successful Rosemary has made the facility. There was electricity and the clinic was more than big enough for 2 operating tables, supplies, an anaesthetic induction table and a recovery area. Sterilisation was in a pressure cooker which worked very well so it was entirely possible to set up for treatment and I was very impressed by my surroundings. We were ably assisted by the lovely Marina, a local lady who helped bring the dogs in and held them excellently for premedication. She also proved to be a godsend when the electric clippers gave up the ghost due to the fact the dogs were all caked in sand – a geographical hazard. Surgeries went well and there were few concerns. The majority of the dogs were, at least, outwardly in good condition. There were the expected parasite burdens and all dogs were routinely given topical and injectable flea and worming treatments post surgery. The dogs were a combination of latch key “owned” dogs and street dogs. You cannot turn a corner in Peru without seeing a dog lying in the road or chasing the cars. Needless to say there was more work than play as there always should be on trips like this. We neutered almost 100 animals (mostly bitch spays) during our stay and one gorgeous girl I couldn’t get out of my head was Rosie. Rosie was brought in for routine neutering having been picked up on the beach. She had a head and body tremor-probably left a result of a disease during puppyhood- and a huge vaginal tumour. She was spayed and started on weekly chemotherapy injections and Rosemary agreed to keep her. She was simply too vulnerable to live on the beach. She won everyone’s heart’s-particularly mine-and it is so nice to hear regular updates from Rosemary on her great progress as a family dog.”
Update from Peru May 2009
On 18th May 2009, The University of Piura, Peru conducted a Spay and Neuter Day with the team run by Rosemary Gordon from The Asociación Humanitaria “San Francisco de Asis”. Dr. Jierson Mendoza, who has attended the International veterinary Training Programme in 2008 (centre) ran the course and offered further training to the team from Colon. Along with a team from the University of Prince Edward Island they managed to neuter 18 animals, of which Dr. Mendoza performed 8 of the operations himself. This was a fantastic opportunity for all the different organisations to work together and learn more about efficient neutering work from our own Dr. Mendoza.